Fields, 46, may be best known for playing the pig-tailed, rollerskating boarding school girl on the 1980s sitcom "Facts of Life," but she has long since moved on. In the 1990s, she starred alongside Queen Latifah and Kim Coles in the sitcom "Living Single."

"I have done so many other things [since Tootie], whether comedy, dramas, spoken word, appearing in films and directing, and people are still following my career," she told ABC News in 2013. "That's a blessing. I don't take that for granted, and I'm grateful every day."

She's a Director

These days Fields, who is paired with dancing pro Sasha Farber, is more used to giving directions than taking them. She has directed television shows like Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns" and BET's "Let's Stay Together" as well as four holiday specials for television.

She's a Mom

Fields made headlines in 2013 when she announced on the syndicated talk show "The Real" that she was expecting her second child at age 44.

"My cycle was slightly irregular and I thought I was getting premenopausal symptoms," Fields told ABC News in 2013.

Instead the doctor told her she was pregnant. "I was already two months in," said Fields, who along with her husband, actor Christopher Morgan, welcomed Quincy Xavier in December 2013. The couple also have another son, 8-year-old Sebastian.

She's a Housewife

After months of speculation, Fields joined the cast of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" in the fall.

"I love covering new ground in my career and in life, so here's to something new!" the star told ABC News in a statement. "And you all know I'm staying true to myself, no matter what's spinning around me!??"